First Things First...

Hall of Fame Coach John Chaney
(Photo Credit: Steve Gengler, 2006)

I sit here just two weeks before the start of a new season, and I've been contemplating how to start a blog that would cover one of the most tumultuous off-seasons in Temple Mens Basketball history. In case you haven't heard, the Temple community lost one of its most vibrant characters this off-season, with the retirement of Hall of Fame basketball coach John Chaney.

As someone who attended the press conference in which John Chaney announced his retirement, I can say with complete sincerity that his absence will be felt not only on the basketball court, but throughout the entire Temple community. Coach Chaney has touched thousands of people in his 34 years at the helm of Temple's basketball program. Coach Chaney was best known on the court for his hard nose style of play, intensity for the game, and for demanding one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the nation. What coach was known for off the court was his genuine care for his players, the community, and his love for the game of basketball. In all honesty, there is so much to be said about Coach Chaney that it is really hard to put it all into words.

However, it is prudent to say that everyone at Temple really appreciates everything that Coach Chaney has done for not only the players and the basketball program, but for the entire university. Weeks after Coach Chaney retired, Temple found and hired a more than capable predecessor by the name of Fran Dunphy. To any Big 5 Basketball fan, the name should sound very familiar. Yes, Coach Dunphy is a La Salle alum, and was an assisstant under Speedy Morris. And yes, most recently Fran Dunphy was indeed the head man at cross-city rival Penn.

In his 17 seasons at UPenn, sans scholarships, Coach Dunphy was 310-163 with 9 appearances in the Big Dance and multiple twenty win seasons. Nobody can question Dunphy's coaching ability, even Hall of Fame Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who called Dunphy a coaching treasure. Former coach John Chaney reiterated Coach K's beliefs, "This program is in very good hands...Fran is America's best-kept secret as far as coaches are concerned."

Shorty after taking the helms here at Temple University, Coach Dunphy pulled his first recruit, a 6'4" swingman in Ryan Brooks, from nearby Lower Merion . However, that elation was soon dampered with the news that starters F/C Wayne Marshall and G Mark Tyndale would not be eligible for the fall semester (academic problems).

Coach Dunphy still remains optimistic about this season, "With Mardy gone and Tyndale out for the first semester, [Dustin] needs to step up and be a leader (ESPN)." Dunphy continues,"We play six teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last year and five more that went to the NIT, plus we play Duke at Cameron Indoor and Cincinnati at a neutral site in Atlantic City. It'll be quite a challenge."

And, for us Temple fans, it'll be quite a sight to see a new head man on the sidelines. Senior John Pelley, who has been an avid supporter of the program since his arrival on campus in 2004, believes that "there should be a level of excitement amongst the faithful to see Coach Dunphy implement the Princeton-style offense into this system." Pelley is also curious as to "who will step up and take leadership of this squad."

Only time will tell.